title: Optimizing skeletal muscle reinnervation with nerve transfer.
abstract: Denervation as a consequence of nerve injury causes profound structural and functional changes within skeletal muscle and can lead to a marked impairment in function of the affected limb. Prompt reinnervation of a muscle with a sufficient number of motion-specific motor axons generally results in good structural and functional recovery, whereas long-term denervation or insufficient or improper axonal recruitment uniformly results in poor functional recovery. Only nerve transfer has been highly efficacious in changing the clinical outcomes of patients with skeletal muscle denervation, especially in the case of proximal limb nerve injuries. Rapid reinnervation with an abundant number of motor axons remains the only clinically effective means to restore function to denervated skeletal muscles.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Section of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, University of Michigan, 2130 Taubman Center, 1500 East Medical Center Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-0340, USA.
authors.forename: Samuel C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Lien
authors.forename: Paul S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Cederna
authors.forename: William M
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Kuzon
mesh_terms: D004558:Electric Stimulation; D006801:Humans; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000294:innervation* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D009133:Muscular Atrophy / Q000601:surgery; D009416:Nerve Regeneration; D016067:Nerve Transfer; D059348:Peripheral Nerve Injuries; D010525:Peripheral Nerves / Q000601:surgery*; D020127:Recovery of Function